RSS to Email Services – Followup

February 5, 2007

Well, my little project for the daily tips from PCMech is being a little delayed by my frustrating search for a good RSS to email service. When I last posted about this whole email thing I’ve been up to, I mentioned that I was going with FeedBlitz. However, I am having second thoughts about that which is why I have not yet uploaded my mailing list over there and started broadcasting. FeedBlitz is a bit of an enigma for me. I like the service and am willing to pay for it, but their interface has got to be one of the worse I have ever seen. And its not a matter of me just wanting eye candy. The interface is actually frustrating. Being logged into the “control panel” looks no different than the actual site. That is except for the fact that NONE of the top menu links work. So, once I perform some action on my account, I have to navigate back to the HOMEPAGE for me to get back to the main area of my account (known as the Dashboard). Then, today, I went to modify the text of the confirmation email and there was no button to save it. I mean, come on guys! After firing off an email to the owner of the company, I cancelled my subscription to them and decided to wait them out.

The deal is that I really want to like FeedBlitz. Their service seems solid and this review I read ranks their email delivery rates at the top. But, their interface is horrible. Unlike most of the other services, these guys actually charge money for their advanced features. But, I am totally willing to pay. Just give me a system I can use. This thing is full of roadblocks that I have to find ways around.

The site that rated the email delivery rates also posted reviews of several RSS to email services, including Squeet, FeedBlitz, Feedburner, and Zookoda. Very good reads.

For now, I am testing Zookodo. I have some concerns about delivery after reading the post above, but I’ll see how it goes. Seriously, smack the Zookodo interface onto FeedBlitz, I would be one very happy man. I’d even send flowers to the president of FeedBlitz if they would do that. My other option, though, is literally to program something in-house. My tips have been sent from my local server for some time anyway…there is no reason why I can’t continue to do that even with the tips themselves being posted to a blog.

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  • David
    I get that all the time. ;)
  • I've just signed up for the fee paying Feedblitz (am still on the two week trial) and agree with you that the interface is a wreck..I also want to get the service to send on demand and thought I'd clicked that link but am still getting daily emails from the service. If things don't shape up in a week then I'll be taking my business elsewhere...
  • David
    You might try emailing the company. When I did so, I got personal and friendly attention from the owner of FeedBlitz. I still think there interface sucks, but at this time, I am still using them and they seem to be doing the job for me.
  • I have emailed twice in fact and no reply! But maybe I'll try again - spurred on by this! If they'd even get the KB working (it's returning a 404 at the moment) that would be something!
  • David
    Let me know what happens on it. I don't want to be with a company that has so many issues. I'm not opposed to taking my list elsewhere.
  • Will do - although I'm not sure what the alternative are right now if (a) you want an email with your own branding and (b) a time schedule that's not daily! Feedburner allows (a) but not (b) I tried to sign up for Zookoda and had my application rejected!
  • David
    If you're starting from scratch on your list, you can check out Aweber (www.aweber.com). They have a great reputation, and their service does provide RSS-to-email. Only problem is that if you are bringing in an existing list, they will run it through the ringer to make sure all the emails are legit. It safeguards their quality, but it does mean you could lose a lot of list members in the process.
  • Thanks David, I had a look at Aweber - here are my list of requirements which seem to be unreachable right now!

    Ability to select which blog entries I include in my newsletter (feedblitz offers the last 15 to choose from in their paid programme..I wish it were more but there you go) Aweber and Feedburner do not

    Customise the email to fit with my branding (free with Feedburner) paid option on the other two.

    Send newsletters on demand (available with paid version of Feedblitz but apparently not working as I am still getting daily mail)

    Some semblance of tech support (have only tried Feedblitz which is abysmal right now - Aweber were superb at answering my questions within minutes).
  • Hi David - you asked for an update...

    http://www.inter-actions.biz/blog/2007/05/feedb...
  • David
    I think FeedBlitz is a small company, because when I was dealing with them before, I had the CEO of the company reply to me. That's not a bad thing, because it works the same way in my business. However, I'm wondering if they have gotten in over their heads. Your experience doesn't seem to be what mine is/was.

    If you move away from them to someplace else, do let me know. You know, I could probably program something to do this very simply. The list would need to be run in house again, but I could do it.
  • On one level it's hilarious (I must be in a good mood today) but then again your response is probably related to the fact that you're a tech person (I'm not) and I'm sure your contact goes to the top of the queue :) If you do write something, sign me up and let me know where I can send the cheque - so far, I can't find a service which will do the very simple things I want it to do .. perhaps I'm not tech savvy enough but I really think this should be a lot easier than it is. Feedblitz's terrible interface isn't helping I have to say...I'll let you know what happens
  • hanks David, I had a look at Aweber - here are my list of requirements which seem to be unreachable right now!

    Ability to select which blog entries I include in my newsletter (feedblitz offers the last 15 to choose from in their paid programme..I wish it were more but there you go) Aweber and Feedburner do not

    Customise the email to fit with my branding (free with Feedburner) paid option on the other two.

    Send newsletters on demand (available with paid version of Feedblitz but apparently not working as I am still getting daily mail)

    Some semblance of tech support (have only tried Feedblitz which is abysmal right now - Aweber were superb at answering my questions within minutes).
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